by Tina Beckett
“Take Anna and go. I’ll see if I can at least keep them off her until help comes. Tell anyone you see who looks official what’s happened.”
It wasn’t easy, but they managed to get the baby out of the sling, and Elyse took her, doing her best to maintain her footing as she was swept through the doors along with the stream of tourists. He didn’t dare kneel to check the victim; instead, he turned to face those still coming toward him, making himself as big as possible and shouting at those who would have shoved him aside, first in Italian and then in English. “Go around! There’s an injured woman.”
It worked. He kept shouting for what seemed like an hour, but was probably five minutes before the crowd thinned, slowed and then dissipated. He saw a set of barricades about twenty yards away, holding the people back.
He swiftly knelt to tend to the woman, a nun, her head covering pulled away. Blood came from a split lip and there was also a large gash on her forehead, the blood from which had formed a small puddle on the mosaic. She’d probably lost her footing and been trampled. A security guard hurried over and with him was Elyse.
“Thank you,” he said to her. “Are you and the baby okay?”
“We’re fine. They’ve called for a rescue squad.”
She must have found someone who spoke English.
He felt for a pulse. It was strong but quicker than he’d like. “She’s breathing, but probably has a concussion at the very least.”
“Pupils?”
He smiled up at her. “You read my mind.” He opened the woman’s eyes one at a time and checked the pupillary reflexes as Elyse knelt on the mosaic floor next to him, still holding the baby.
“They’re both reactive. A very good sign.” He then ran his hands over her arms and legs, palpating for breaks.
“There.”
“What is it?”
The bone in her left leg was pressed against the skin but hadn’t pushed through.
He didn’t pull away the clothing, just said, “Her femur is broken. It won’t take much to become an open fracture. We can’t move her until the squad gets here.”
“I agree.”
Switching to Italian, he explained the situation to the guard. Not to mention there was no way of knowing if there were spinal or internal injuries.
Two other nuns approached. One of them put a hand over her mouth, turning her face toward the other in shock.
“It’s Sister Maria. She fell behind our group. We’re visiting from Rome. We had no idea she was hurt.”
Elyse stood, putting her hand on the stricken nun’s shoulder. “Help is coming.”
The guard asked how many were in their party.
The one who’d spoken up answered. “There are two more sisters outside. They’re waiting to see if we could find Maria. Will she be all right?”
Maria’s eyes flickered and then opened, and she moaned, even as she tried to shift, one hand trying to reach her leg.
Luca pressed gently against her shoulder. “Lie still. You’ve been hurt. I’m Dr. Venezio and this is Dr. Tenner. We’re going to stay with you until help arrives. Does anything hurt besides your leg?”
The woman closed her eyes for a minute, maybe taking stock of the different parts of her body. “My head. The fingers of my hand.” She raised it to show digits that were swollen and purple.
He winced. How many shoes had trodden on that frail hand? Thank God Elyse had made it out with the baby. The same thing might have happened to her. Gently taking the nun’s hand, he felt it, stopping when she gasped. He reassured her and then turned to Elyse.
“They’ll need to get an X-ray to be sure, I can’t feel past the edema.”
Elyse nodded. “Could be crush injuries. They’ll need to watch for compartment syndrome.”
“I agree.”
He’d forgotten how well they worked together. Most times, anyway. He glanced at Anna, surprised to see she was silently taking it all in.
A team pushing a stretcher hurried toward them. Luca quickly went through who they were and what they knew about the patient. “Trampling incident. She has a fractured left femur, which needs to be splinted. She’ll probably also need her spine stabilized and a neck brace. Vitals are good, but she’s complaining of pain in her head and her hand is pretty swollen, there may be a bleeder in there.”
One of the techs was trying to get everything down while the other one gathered the necessary equipment from his bag. With Luca guiding the process with some input from Elyse, they soon had Maria loaded while someone went to find the other nuns, who were waiting outside, to let them know what had happened.
And then they were gone, leaving Luca to stand and reach down a hand to help Elyse up, as she was still holding Anna. They went outside before the barricades were taken down and watched to make sure there were no other incidents.
“Well, that wasn’t how I expected the tour to end,” he said.
“I’m just glad no one else was hurt. Trampling incidents can be horrific. She’s lucky she’s alive.”
“Yes, she is.” Something made him drape his arm around her shoulders and give her a quick squeeze. Maybe just thankfulness that it hadn’t been her or Anna who’d been injured, even though he was sorry that anyone had been caught in that. All he could assume was that the walker had toppled over, hitting the hard floor a couple of times. The sound of it could have made people jump to the worst possible conclusion and panic, especially when combined with the screaming. As a result, an innocent woman had been badly hurt.
* * *
Elyse laid her head on his shoulder, sending warmth washing through his chest. He tightened his grip. Never in his wildest dreams about her had he pictured this scenario.
But he liked it. A little too much.
“You’re still wearing Anna’s baby sling, you know. I think you got a couple of sideways looks from those guards.”
“Let them look. I’m proud to wear it.”
“Are you?” She glanced up at him for a moment and there was something in those big eyes of hers that made him wish for impossible things.
He didn’t think she’d want to know what he’d really like to do. What being with her right now was making him think. And adding that smile à la Elyse? It was deadlier than any aphrodisiac known to man. No little blue pills needed.
“I am.”
Standing outside the cathedral once more, he glanced at his watch. Five thirty. It was still early by Italian standards, but maybe they could get into a restaurant without the normal crush of people. He actually knew of a place closer to the clinic that a lot of the staff went to. It would also give them a chance to swing by the house before they ate and change their clothes. He let go of her and held his arms out for the baby. “Are you hungry? I thought we might go out to eat early.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
When they got back to the house, Emilia was still there and insisted on staying to watch the baby while they went out and had an uninterrupted meal.
“Do not hurry back. I not hold baby since...my babies...” She held her hands to show how little they’d been, then reached out for Anna.
It was hard to say no when she so obviously enjoyed cuddling Annalisa in her arms. She dropped into one of Luca’s recliners, which had a rocking feature.
He pulled Elyse aside. “She’ll be fine, I promise. And Emilia will call my cell if there are any problems.”
“I trust her. And I need to buy more diapers, since I’m close to running out of the supply I brought with me. Can we stop by a grocery store?”
“Yes. Of course. I should have thought of that.”
“Some things don’t cross your mind until it becomes a necessity.”
He puzzled through the words. Was she only talking about diapers? Or was there another meaning behind the words.
Regardless, it was true. He’d just ins
tituted a new rule of no touching when it came to Elyse, born out of necessity. Having his arm around her outside the Duomo had made him realize how dangerous it was to touch her, even when it started out innocently enough.
They said goodbye to Emilia and headed out in the car.
“Should we bring something back for her?”
“She’ll have already prepared a meal and put it in the fridge. There is usually a lot of leftover food. I normally send some of it home with her, so she knows to eat what she wants.”
“Oh, no. I didn’t realize she was cooking something for us tonight.”
“We’ll eat it tomorrow. It’s fine.”
“If you’re sure. How long has she been with you?”
“She is actually one of my parents’ housekeepers. She’s been with them for more years than I can remember. When I came back to Italy, she volunteered to come and make sure I didn’t starve—my mom’s words.”
“I guarantee you won’t. Not with the way she cooks.” She paused, then added, “What happens if you leave again?”
Was she talking about her suggestion that he move back to the States? He loved his work at the clinic—felt like he was doing a lot of good where he was.
But he also loved his daughter. Wouldn’t he move heaven and earth for the chance to be with her?
Yes, he would.
“If I left, she would probably opt to go back to my parents.” His mother and father were wealthy, his father managing his own shipping company. “She’s part of the family. They love her.”
She laughed. “Your parents sound like great people. I’m still a little nervous about meeting them, though. Especially under these circumstances.”
He could understand that. He was still a little worried about their reaction himself. But probably not for the same reasons she was.
“You’ll like them. And they’ll love you.”
“As much as they love Emilia?” She smiled as she said it.
“More.”
She blew out a breath. “Did you tell them after we talked last time?”
He knew she was referring to Anna. “Not yet. I’ve been thinking through my approach.”
“If we just show up with her in tow, that conversation might prove to be a little more difficult.”
She was right. He couldn’t just spring it on them and pray for the best. Especially not if Elyse was in the room. His parents needed time to digest the information and plan how they were going to approach it before they got there. “I’ll do it tonight.”
“Good.” She looked relieved, getting out of the car and surveying their surroundings. “This is lovely.”
“It’s close to the clinic and pretty popular.”
“I can see why.”
They went in and the scents of garlic and mozzarella tickled his nose, making his mouth water. The hum of voices and laughter only added to it. He’d been right to come to Florence. He’d loved the city from the moment he’d set foot into it. There were complaints about the tourists from some quarters, but having lived in another country for over a year he felt a kinship with them that killed a little of the homesickness he’d felt for Atlanta. Even now when he heard a Southern accent from the States, it brought back memories. Good memories of warm food and even warmer people, even if he never had gotten the hang of drinking iced tea.
And if he moved back to the States, he would have to leave his new city behind.
“Luca! Qui!” He turned his head and saw Lorenzo motioning them over.
“Dammit.” He groaned aloud. “Did I say this was a good idea?”
“Embarrassed to be seen with me?”
There was something in her face that said she really believed he might be.
“What? Dio, no. I’d hoped to have a little time alone with you after sharing you with the clinic.” He hurried to add, “To discuss our future. With Annalisa.” He was making a mess out of this whole thing.
Then again, he’d made a mess out of his relationship with her as well. They might as well join Lorenzo and the other two surgeons at the table. What happened to this being an early time to eat for Italians?
A waitress came up to them, and he motioned to the trio at the table. “Could we get another chair?”
She brought one and everyone adjusted their places to accommodate them. Even with the moves, Luca found himself squeezed in next to Elyse, knees touching. There was no way to avoid it. When he glanced at Lorenzo, who was on the other side of her, he wondered if her knees were touching his as well. The idea made him subconsciously press a bit closer, an impulse he neither liked nor welcomed.
Giorgino introduced her to the other two doctors, not waiting for Luca to translate. Drs. Fasone and Bergamini each stood to shake her hand.
He told the other two in Italian that Elyse was a surgeon in the US.
Dr. Fasone cocked his head. “What do you specialize in?”
“I’m a neurosurgeon.”
Fasone smiled. “Working at a neuro-clinic, you can be fairly sure that many of us are as well.”
Coming here had been a huge mistake. The only married man in the party was Dr. Bergamini.
Why did he even care? He and Elyse were no longer together. It shouldn’t matter if she set her sights on someone else.
Well, Lorenzo was a serial dater, out with a new woman almost every week. And Fasone was...well, he was just a nice guy. Someone exactly like Elyse might fall for. He’d certainly be a stable influence on Anna. But that didn’t make Luca like it any better.
He was suddenly conscious that his knee was clamped to hers. Unconsciously claiming her for his own?
Dannazione. He needed to get himself together.
He did that by remaining silent while they exchanged stories, with Lorenzo telling the other two doctors about the cavernoma surgery and Elyse’s part in it. “It is sometimes good to have an outside perspective, yes?”
Lorenzo smiled at her in a way that made Luca tense.
The server came over and took his and Elyse’s orders.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” she murmured to Luca. The urge to shoot the other surgeon a look of triumph came and went. He was being childish. She wasn’t going to fall for Lorenzo’s charm.
He ordered two plates of ravioli with salads on the side, then paused for a second, turning to her. “Salads here come with anchovies. Do you want yours without?”
She blinked. “I’ve never tried them, but if that’s how the salad comes, that’s how I’d like mine.”
A sliver of pride went through him. Not so much for his homeland but for the fact that Elyse was willing to eat what was common in his culture. “I hope you like it more than I did your sweet tea.”
“Didn’t I tell you? That’s what I’d like to drink with my meal.”
This time he laughed. “We have enough tourists that some of the restaurants do serve it. This one, I’m not so sure.”
“I was joking. I’ll have a sparkling mineral water.”
He frowned. “No wine?” In the States she drank wine and Italy was known for its wide array of good ones.
“Not tonight.” She gave him a pointed look, and then he realized she couldn’t, because of Anna. How stupid could he be? It was too bad. He’d hoped to introduce her to Chianti—produced in the town that bore its name—which was only around fifty miles from here.
“Do they have sparkling water?”
“Yes.” He turned to the server. “Acqua frizzante e un chiante.”
Once the server left, he glanced at the men. “You’ve already ordered?”
“Right before you came in,” Lorenzo responded, turning to Elyse once more. “You like the food dall’Italia?”
“I love it.” This time her knee nudged Luca’s twice. She’d sensed the hint of flirtation in Lorenzo’s manner and was reassuring him. It was an old
game they’d played many times before. If another man so much as looked at her, or if he thought someone was trying to come on to her, she would touch him. Or nudge his knee under the table. Or lay her hand on his thigh to reassure him that she wanted to be there with him. Only him.
That wasn’t the case here, but it still helped his muscles release some of their tension. She was telling him she wasn’t going to respond to the other man’s subtle advances. Luca had never been outwardly jealous, but she’d always been able to sense when he became uneasy.
Drinks were soon poured, and Lorenzo gave a toast in Italian, which Luca translated. “To interesting cases and even more interesting conversation.” This time, though, Luca sent the other man a slight frown, which resulted in raised brows on Lorenzo’s part. But he helped steer the conversation back to neutral territory, with the other surgeons asking about procedures in the States and comparing them to Italian medicine.
“What was your most disappointing case?” Fasone asked.
This time Luca did tense. He was pretty sure that would be the case that he and Elyse had disagreed on so vehemently and in which they had both been wrong. A simple blood test had ruled it to be something else entirely, but the diagnosis had come too late.
“Well, we had a patient who came in suffering from massive headaches that weren’t responding to over-the-counter pain meds. The symptoms led me to suspect a tumor and Luca disagreed, thinking she had a blood clot. An MRI showed we were both wrong. But almost as soon as we wheeled her out of the imaging room, she threw a clot and had a massive stroke. She had polycythemia vera.”
Luca added. “Her bone marrow was producing too many blood cells. But they were platelets, not the red blood cells normally found in the condition. It was a rarer form of the disease.”
Fasone grimaced. “That’s tough. It doesn’t sound like you had much hope of saving the patient even if you had diagnosed it from the beginning, though.”
“No, she waited too long to come in. She’d been experiencing symptoms for several years and there was already evidence of a couple of previous transient ischemic attacks.”
“I’m surprised you two are still talking,” Giorgino said with a smile. “Those are the kinds of disagreements that can ruin friendships.”
